The once-reverred traditional institution is under a lot of pressure from religion and politics which has given rise to advocacy for roles for traditional rulers to be incorporated into Nigeria’s constitution. This, according to experts, is to avoid the institution being subsumed in politics and losing its relevance in light of recent happenings across the country; ELEOJO IDACHABA writes.
Traditional institution refers to social and political authority with historical origin and usually restricted to particular area. This form of authority held sway and mostly provided leadership for the people before the advent of colonial role and democracy.
Notwithstanding the advancement in governance, the traditional institution has continued to play its rule though under the supervision of elected leaders in the states and local governments.
However, events in the recent past indicate that the power and role of monarchs who are the custodians of traditional institutions may no longer be reckoned with if they continue to allow politicians have their way by acting as an extension of political parties and elected officials.
Specifically, not a few of these custodians of the traditional institutions have been reduced to lame ducks, even as those of them who dare to speak out are either pressured to join the bandwagon or have their powers pruned and even run the risk of losing their stool completely.
Blueprint Weekend’s investigations have revealed that their allegiance to the powers that be, on any matter, appears to be a done deal for the sake of their stools.
A case in point is the on-going battle for supremacy between the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the Governor of Kano state, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, over what many perceive as being politically motivated.
Sanusi, who reportedly incurred the wrath of the governor by openly criticising his administration in the run up to the 2019 general elections as well as supporting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, had to allegedly pay for that by having his emirate balkanised.
The governor is alleged to have used his power and influence over the House of Assemble to pass into law and give legal backing to the creation four additional emirates from the Kano Emirate. The law by implication reduced the powers and influence of revered monarch to a few local councils.
Although opinions vary on the matter, some analysts view the action an assault on the traditional institution which is the rallying point for the people at the grassroots.
It is worth noting that the recent development was not the first attempt at pruning the powers of the emir of Kano. Records indicate that a former governor of the state, Abubakar Rimi, in 1979, had also tried unsuccessfully to curtail the powers of the former Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero.
Assaults on traditional institutions
The traditional institutions have come under attacks including the removal of the Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki, on April 20, 1996, by the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.
On that day, a chartered aircraft, with some key indigenes of Sokoto state on board, landed on the tarmac of Sultan Sadiq Abubakar III Airport. On board the aircraft were Shehu Malami, the late Ibrahim Gusau, and Attahiru Bafarawa, an ally of Abacha.
The military administrator of the state, Col. Yakubu Muazu, who was acting on a script, was said to have summoned the unsuspecting sultan, the Commissioner of Police, and Director of Department of State Services (DSS) to the Government House for a meeting.
The sultan was said to have arrived with a retinue of aides and palace courtiers and shortly after a detachment of officers from the Police Mobile Force (PMF) took over the palace.
This is as all his aides were reportedly rounded up and held against their will in a hall, even as the sultan’s briefcase said to have been containing his medication for hypertension was seized and his royal garment stripped.
The bemused sultan after a brief meeting was said to have been led out of the administrator’s office by the commissioner of police into a waiting vehicle that took him straight to the airport. This was reportedly how his journey into exile in Zing, Taraba state, started through the Yola Airport.
The 70-year-old had monarch lost his position in a jiffy and was replaced by Muhammadu Maccido. Records indicate that his alleged offence bothered on perceived disdain for the Abacha regime.
The ousting of Sultan Abubakar may have set the tone for subsequent assaults on the institution in almost every part of the country under the regime and subsequent governments. Under the President Olusegun Obasanjo-led government, the Emir of Gwandu, Mustapha Jokolo, was equally removed in questionable circumstances. The emir’s removal was reportedly superintended by former governor Adamu Aliero, who banished him to Lafia in Nasarawa state on claims that he was making reckless statements capable of threatening national security.
Though a court of competent jurisdiction later ruled against his removal and ordered his reinstatement, the emir, however, refused to return to office. He was quoted to have said that he had been terrified by the forces within power.
Recent attempts
Following the cutting to size of the Emir of Kano, Plateau state Governor, Simon Lalong, had attempted to replicate the Kano scenario by creating two traditional councils out of Jos Traditional Council.
He was, however, stopped by an interim injunction issued by a Plateau State High Court stopping the governor from tampering with the composition of the traditional council.
The state government had, prior to this time, created Riyom and Jos North Traditional Councils from the Jos Joint Traditional Council. The development left the Jos Traditional Council with only two local government areas, comprising Jos and Barkin-Ladi, as against four local governments under the Gbong Gwom Jos.
Ruling on the suit, Justice Christine Dabup, said: “The defendants, their agents, representatives or privies are hereby restrained from tampering with the Jos Joint Traditional Council, including suspending or deposing any member of the Jos Joint Traditional Council, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
“The defendants are mandated to continue to recognise the Gbong Gwom Jos as the president of Jos Joint Traditional Council made up of Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Kadi and Riyom local governments, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
The Kogi scenario
In Kogi state, the same scenario is quietly playing out as traditional rulers in the three Senatorial districts appear to be under immense pressure over the second term bid of Governor Yahaya Bello.
The governor is said to have vowed to dethrone any traditional ruler that doesn’t support his re-election bid or fails to do his bidding.
Blueprint Weekend’s investigations indicated that not even the revered Attah of Igala, Michael Ameh, who is a first class chief and chairman, Kogi Council of Chiefs, is spared.
A recent press statement issued by a socio-cultural group, Supreme Council of Igala Nation, comprising Igala sons and daughters in the Diaspora, expressed sadness over the alleged desecration of the palace of the royal father in Idah by the governor and his chief of staff, Edward Onoja.
The governor had used the palace as launch ground for his re-election campaign, threatening anyone with a contrary political ideology.
This was followed by forcefully getting the Attah and the other Igala royal fathers to move to Lokoja to endorse the governor’s second term bid.
The statement read in part: “We take total exception to the sacrilegious use of the palace of the Attah of Igala for unholy political gatherings where open threats are being issued to the people. For the avoidance of doubt, the palace of Attah is a place that unites all Igala people for peaceful and prosperous reasons and also for cleansing of Igala kingdom in times of adversity.
“It is not a place to draw out guns and daggers against fellow brothers who pose no threat, but already impoverished by hunger and starvation.”
The statement jointly signed by Prof Dominic Ariaroma, who is based in the United Kingdom; Amodu Olubo Onu, United States; Onuoja Ibegu, Congo DR, among others, also read, “Our royal fathers are the custodians of our cultural heritage, artefacts, and ways of worship, with major role of leading us according to our traditions, defending, protecting and promoting our interests and cultural values.
“They also bless us from time to time and are happy to perform all these customary requirements. They are not politicians and like fathers of all, they do not choose and anoint their subjects above others.
“They are not political errand boys of the government even though they help government to maintain peace within their domains. They should, therefore, not be seen or treated as errand boys.”
Speaking on the development, a former Assistant Comptroller in the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr James Okai, who is the chairman of Igala chiefs in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said the place of traditional institution in the society “goes beyond what politicians can decide.”
He said, “The position of a traditional ruler is, by implication, even more important than political appointment because it has political, spiritual, and traditional relevance in the society. That position is usually not given out any how until the pedigree of the would-be holder is verified; so it carries a lot of respect which must be upheld by those with political powers.”
Balkanisation, bad omen – Obi of Onitsha
The Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, while speaking at the Yoruba Tennis Club in Lagos recently, said the balkanisation of traditional institution is a bad omen for the revered institution.
He said: “Before colonialism, Nigerian traditional communities were variously organised as empires, kingdoms, city states and autonomous communities with sovereign monarchs as the political, military and, sometimes, religious authorities. These monarchs, now commonly referred to as traditional rulers, were the first points of contact for the colonial agents.
“The fortunes of the traditional rulers have continued to fluctuate under the post-military civilian state executive authorities which are a source of stipend and hold the powers of potential manipulation. There has been also the emergence of several new domains carved out of existing ones, competition for visibility by the new traditional rulers and the reduction of the spheres of influence of existing ones.
“Whilst no part of the country is immune, this trend of balkanisation has been most rampant in the South-east and South-south parts of the country. Imo state government attracted attention two years ago when it split the ancient Kingdom of Owerri into five autonomous communities and appointed four new Ezes in addition to the erstwhile paramount ruler, Eze Emmanuel Njemanze.”
Constitutionality
A former governor of Abia state, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, while delivering a lecture on the place of the traditional institution, said, “The traditional rulers’ stool was a great symbol of power, leadership and authority in the good old days. It commanded the respect and loyalty of the people of their different kingdoms.
“It was almost a taboo to speak ill of a traditional ruler or to flagrantly flout his orders. In some of the kingdoms, the traditional rulers were not just monarchs, but theocrats as in northern Nigeria.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that the colonial masters did not meet an unorganised and lawless society when they came to Nigeria. The reason was that traditional rulers were already on ground administering the affairs of their various communities as the custodians of culture and tradition.”
According to him, “Making a case for constitutional recognition of royal fathers is borne out of the conviction that the traditional institutions are still highly respected in most communities in the country and for wielding considerable political and economic influence, and, therefore, there is every need to assign specific roles to them in the constitution.
“There is also the need to harness the strategic position they occupy in their communities to bring government closer to the people, and that is the only way government could penetrate the grassroots.”
Mark adds voice
As President of the Senate, Senator David Mark canvassed a role for traditional rulers in the constitution in order to insulate them from the vagaries of their respective governors.
“We will continue to assist our traditional rulers who are responsible for unity and peace in order to further strengthen their roles. We shall find specific roles for them in the constitution when we finally review the 1999 Constitution,” he said.
It is believed that if the place of the traditional institution becomes a matter of law, the stool would be protected; however, the point of disagreements remains the extent of their power and control in a democratic dispensation.
